Church Micro #2539 Hawkesbury Traditional Cache
Church Micro #2539 Hawkesbury
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Grade 1 listed building built on Saxon and Roman remains founded circa 680 AD.
If the church is open, noted are the kneelers, over 300 made in the last 15 years.
Once described by the Rev Devereux Mack BA then Vicar of Hawkesbury as " a pearl in a superb setting" this ancient church nestling in a sheltered position on the North and East by the Cotswold escarpment and to the North by the steep hill side leading to the Knoll, the enduring impression is that of tranquility and perhaps later the curiosity of why the church is here most village church's are central to the village but in this case there are very few buildings surrounding it, the modern village of Hawkesbury Upton often confused with Hawkesbury proper was once a hamlet of Hawkesbury just known as Upton which in recent centuries has out grown Hawkesbury.
A.D 680 a College of Secular Cannons was founded here by Osward the nephew of King Ethelred of Mercia the secular Cannons were dismissed by King Edgar in the year 972 at the request of the Bishop of Worcester and replaced by monks of the order of St Benadict, King Edgars charter re confirms the same privileges as are said to have been granted at an earlier time by King Coenulph included in this grant are estates named as "Suthstoce (South Stoke) Hileahe (Hillesley) Treashaa (Tresham) Cyllingcocotan (Kilcott) Badimyncgtun (Badminton) and Upton (Hawkesbury Upton) as a Deanery Church it shows it must have been the earliest church in quite a large area.
St Mary's consists of a chancel with a south chapel , a nave with south aisle a tower to the west and north and south porches with chambers over both porches its length from east to west is just under 36.5 meters (120 feet) with a width of 21.3 meters (70 feet) including the two porches.
Its logical that a church must have been constructed in A D 680 and some early Saxon work survives most prominently the bases of the inner doorway of the north porch one is 5 cm's (2 inch's) lower on the west side in the Norman period the later door shafts were built on to them.
During renovation in 1888 William Wood Bethell the Architect notes that foundations were found under the church extending eastwards and northwards outside of the church this must be an earlier building and Bethell says it could be part of an earlier Saxon church or even of Roman construction (see dotted lines on Bethell's ground plan they do not line up with any of the later foundations).
“If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication. There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list”
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